Ferrell and Wahlberg take comedy seriously

Dean Richards

Just when you think that the buddy-cop genre is tapped out of original ideas, or that Will Ferrell had thrown in the towel and would keep churning out that same hapless, oaf character that we've seen in the last few years, comes his new film, "The Other Guys," co-starring Mark Wahlberg.

As I found out in Los Angeles recently, even though this is a funny movie, it's something that they take very seriously.

Q: Are you at the point where you can just do whatever you'd like, or are you thinking about box-office results when you pick your films?

Wahlberg: It depends on whether you want to make movies that people pay for, or ones that you make with your own video camera. It matters to a certain extent, but it's not how I choose my roles. It is a business at the end of the day, so you want to make sure that the movies you make are successful and that the people that are putting their money behind you are getting their money back.

Ferrell: It's one of those things where you want movies to do well, but at the same time it's really about committing to what you think is funny and different. You can't try to make a hit movie. Hopefully it all lines up and happens and you're on the right track in terms of your choices, but you just have to do what's in your gut.

M.W.: Money is not the reason I choose to make movies. I think that if you make good movies, then you'll continue to get parts, and I've always just considered myself a working actor. I've always convinced filmmakers that I'm the best person for a part, but when you're above the title, it certainly adds a little bit of pressure.

Q: We've got Lindsay (Lohan), Mel (Gibson) and Charlie Sheen in the news for "not so flattering" reasons. You're both old pros. Is it possible for an actor to come back from that kind of bad press?

W.F.: I don't really sit around and really analyze that stuff, but it feels like the world is a very forgiving place. If all of a sudden you lay low and then let your work speak for itself, then you can come right back it seems.

M.W.: That said, can people just stop doing all this crazy nonsense and do the right thing? How about if we go to the church instead of the club?

W.F.: This is such a great business to work in ... I know Mark and I have the same belief that has sort of a "pinch yourself" quality when we think that we actually get to do this and get paid. Why would you even go down that road to mess it up?

M.W.: Why would you do anything to jeopardize all the blessings that have been bestowed upon you? I've got people in the real world that are having real problems and hard times, and you're blessed. You should be doing things to better your situation and hopefully create opportunities for other people that don't have them.

Q: If you could trade places and do something from the other's professional career, what would it be?

W.F.: I would do "Boogie Nights" just to have that prosthesis.

M.W.: I would play Allen Gamble in the sheets with Sheila. (Ferrell's character, Allen Gamble, is married to Eva Mendes' character in the film.)

Travel expenses were paid by Columbia Pictures and WGN-TV. Watch my interviews 5 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on WGN-Ch. 9 Morning News. My radio show airs 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on WGN-AM 720 and wgnradio.com. You can also hear more by going to wgntv.com/deanslist.